Hows my 9900k looking?

tintin82 · 29 May 2020 at 16:28

Hi folks,

After a few days of tinkering with my new 9900k I have two stable overclocks and toying with which one to use 24/7.

4.8ghz @ 1.24v

After 5 runs of IBT 76 core temp with a 127w power draw
Cinebench score of 4914 with a temp of 79 and a 160w power draw

20 mins of BFV has low 70's with a max of 75.

5.0ghz @ 1.32v

After 5 runs of IBT 87 core temp with a 150w power draw
Cinebench score of 5074 with a temp of 90 and a 190w power draw

20 mins of BFV has mostly high 70's but occasional spikes to low 80's

Ambient is 25 and using a Thermalright Silver Arrow cooler.

Is this pretty much as to be expected? What ghz are you comfortable running this 24/7? I am a bit wary of running 5.0ghz due to the 80c temps, but I am coming from a 6700k at 4.6ghz that never went over 75c.

CuriousTomCat · 29 May 2020 at 16:34

tintin82 said:
I am a bit wary of running 5.0ghz due to the 80c temps

You answered you're own question there. The performance gain is only 3.26% so why bother exerting that temperature upon your CPU? The human brain's idealistic view that 5.0ghz makes a huge difference for no reason other than it's a round number

tyler_jrb · 29 May 2020 at 19:20

Agreed with the above even in my testing 4.8ghz vs 5.0ghz runs much cooler. Even mine spikes to 70c or so at 5.0ghz with custom loop while just gaming, ambient is probably 30c+ though. Hottest it gets though due to case placement and gpu heat so it runs that 24/7.

Bet most could run at stock and not notice any fps difference using say a 1440p or 4k monitor. 4.8ghz you wouldnt even notice the difference other than above (round number) and a number most want to hit.

I'd personally rather run at 4.8ghz with lower temps in your situation if its for anything other than gaming. However IMO 80c is fine as they will be spikes while gaming, not a constant running temperature. They have a 100c TJ for a reason. Anything below that won't do any damage.

Tetras · 29 May 2020 at 19:26

I'd take the lower voltage for 24/7, definitely. Performance difference is minimal, but more manageable temperatures and power draw. Isn't that only a 100 Mhz overclock though, what's the stock voltage?

tintin82 · 29 May 2020 at 20:39

Tetras said:
I'd take the lower voltage for 24/7, definitely. Performance difference is minimal, but more manageable temperatures and power draw. Isn't that only a 100 Mhz overclock though, what's the stock voltage?

Unsure, but to pass IBT at 4.8ghz all cores takes 1.24, any lower and it fails.

I am going to go with what you all suggest at stick to the 4.8ghz. The difference in both volts and temp is just too much for 5.0ghz. Happy the chip can do it, but 4.8ghz is clearly the sweet spot. Brilliant upgrade from a 6700k, really smooths everything out.

hyperseven · 29 May 2020 at 22:33

Stick with the 5 if stable. Highly doubtful you are running all 16 threads at 5GHz 24/7.

Cooper · 30 May 2020 at 09:08

tintin82 said:
I am a bit wary of running 5.0ghz due to the 80c temps

Why?....that's still well within thermal limits and it will only hit those kind of temps every now & then.

The fact that your 9900K is stable at 5Ghz 1.32vlts, tells you that you have a good 9900K, certainly in the top 25% of 9900K's. Most will require 1.35vlts for 5Ghz.

I'm not saying to run it at 5Ghz 24/7, that's your choice, but what I am saying is that no harm will come to the CPU if you do.

koooowweeee · 30 May 2020 at 10:08

I would either get better cooling and run at 5ghz or you could run at 4.8 on hot days and up it on cooler days

But as mentioned it not going to be running full whack 24/7 so I wouldn't worry about it.

tintin82 · 30 May 2020 at 12:53

Cooper said:
Why?....that's still well within thermal limits and it will only hit those kind of temps every now & then.

The fact that your 9900K is stable at 5Ghz 1.32vlts, tells you that you have a good 9900K, certainly in the top 25% of 9900K's. Most will require 1.35vlts for 5Ghz.

I'm not saying to run it at 5Ghz 24/7, that's your choice, but what I am saying is that no harm will come to the CPU if you do.

This is what I needed to hear. I was really chuffed that it clocked to 5ghz, but just wary from all the talk on various forums about high temps degrading chips.
But at the end of the day, why would Intel make chips with thermal limits so high if they are destined to fail much lower. I ran a 2500k at 4.6ghz for 5 years, ran a 6700k at 4.8ghz for years, both with no problems, albeit with temps in the 70's. I do not see threads reporting all these overclocked 2500k or 6700k chips starting to die. So is all the 'keep temps low' talk overblown?

tyler_jrb · 30 May 2020 at 14:06

tintin82 said:
This is what I needed to hear. I was really chuffed that it clocked to 5ghz, but just wary from all the talk on various forums about high temps degrading chips.
But at the end of the day, why would Intel make chips with thermal limits so high if they are destined to fail much lower. I ran a 2500k at 4.6ghz for 5 years, ran a 6700k at 4.8ghz for years, both with no problems, albeit with temps in the 70's. I do not see threads reporting all these overclocked 2500k or 6700k chips starting to die. So is all the 'keep temps low' talk overblown?

For the most part yes. No one has really tested how long they last even 1c under throttle temperature 24/7. It’s mainly someone’s guess at what’s safe and what’s not.

They have a 100c max temp which can be unlocked to 110c in bios which tells me anything under 100c is not going to cause any issues in the long run.

80c IMO is fine even 24/7. See if you can reduce other voltages which will bring temps down also. Vccio and vccsa which should be anywhere between 1 and 1.3v at that speed depending on memory speeds and memory controller silicon quality. If left on auto it tends to set it way too high (1.35v+) which adds extra heat also.

bledd · 30 May 2020 at 14:10

@tintin82

How much of a difference have you noticed in gaming after moving from the 6700K? This is what I currently have.

CuriousTomCat · 30 May 2020 at 14:38

tintin82 said:
I do not see threads reporting all these overclocked 2500k or 6700k chips starting to die. So is all the 'keep temps low' talk overblown?

Well people like to look after their possessions. For example, I don't eat food at my computer. I know my computer won't die if I eat food at my keyboard but that's not the point.

I know your CPU won't die at those temperatures but I wouldn't feel happy about it.

A lot of people are happy with it and that's perfectly fine.

tintin82 · 30 May 2020 at 16:05

bledd said:
@tintin82

How much of a difference have you noticed in gaming after moving from the 6700K? This is what I currently have.

Definitely glad I made the move. Initially hesitant, but the like of BF5 is so smooth now, no more stuttering. Plus, still got a good price for my 6700k.

Tetras · 30 May 2020 at 16:58

tintin82 said:
This is what I needed to hear. I was really chuffed that it clocked to 5ghz, but just wary from all the talk on various forums about high temps degrading chips.
But at the end of the day, why would Intel make chips with thermal limits so high if they are destined to fail much lower. I ran a 2500k at 4.6ghz for 5 years, ran a 6700k at 4.8ghz for years, both with no problems, albeit with temps in the 70's. I do not see threads reporting all these overclocked 2500k or 6700k chips starting to die. So is all the 'keep temps low' talk overblown?

It's all just a guess really, but one thing I don't like about high CPU voltages / temperatures is that it impacts on the motherboard too and there are much clearer stats for the impact of temperature there. Still, there's a lot of evidence of how robust Intel 14nm is, it has been around forever in computer terms, so I'd be more inclined to push it than a Ryzen 3000.

bledd · 30 May 2020 at 17:15

tintin82 said:
Definitely glad I made the move. Initially hesitant, but the like of BF5 is so smooth now, no more stuttering. Plus, still got a good price for my 6700k.

What you and resolution?

I have a 2080TI and 1440p, pretty happy right now with BFV

tintin82 · 30 May 2020 at 17:24

bledd said:
What you and resolution?

I have a 2080TI and 1440p, pretty happy right now with BFV

1080ti with 1440p.

tintin82 · 31 May 2020 at 07:15

Tetras said:
I'd take the lower voltage for 24/7, definitely. Performance difference is minimal, but more manageable temperatures and power draw. Isn't that only a 100 Mhz overclock though, what's the stock voltage?

So I had a look into the voltage at full load on stock. CPUZ shows that when all cores are loaded the clock speed changes to 4.7ghz and voltage to 1.27, although this spikes to 5ghz one one core adn teh voltage spikes to 1.35, all on stock. My 4.8hz OC is a 100mhz OC, but undervolt at the same time, hence the better temps.

Vimes · 31 May 2020 at 08:27

tintin82 said:
So I had a look into the voltage at full load on stock. CPUZ shows that when all cores are loaded the clock speed changes to 4.7ghz and voltage to 1.27, although this spikes to 5ghz one one core adn teh voltage spikes to 1.35, all on stock. My 4.8hz OC is a 100mhz OC, but undervolt at the same time, hence the better temps.

From what I understand, not much tho, when you use CPU-Z as you mention you are noting the VID voltage - the voltage that the CPU is requesting at a given mhz. If you want to see the voltage that you are actually giving the CPU you need to read the VROUT and that can be found, for example, within HWiNFO64.

FWIW my 9900k is back from an all core 5Ghz to stock. I run at 1440p with a 1080Ti.

tintin82 · 31 May 2020 at 17:56

Vimes said:
From what I understand, not much tho, when you use CPU-Z as you mention you are noting the VID voltage - the voltage that the CPU is requesting at a given mhz. If you want to see the voltage that you are actually giving the CPU you need to read the VROUT and that can be found, for example, within HWiNFO64.

FWIW my 9900k is back from an all core 5Ghz to stock. I run at 1440p with a 1080Ti.

Out of interest what kind of temp were you seeing at 5ghz vs stock? And what cooling set up do you have?

Vimes · 31 May 2020 at 18:12

tintin82 said:
Out of interest what kind of temp were you seeing at 5ghz vs stock? And what cooling set up do you have?

I have one of these...

My basket at Overclockers UK:

1 x Noctua NH-U12A High Performance CPU Cooler - 120mm= £89.99

Total: £89.99 (includes shipping: £0.00)

IIRC the temps were under 80c for 5Ghz but that was when it isn't as warm as it is now. Stock around 65 or so at most, a little vague about stock as I don't bother to monitor it, see no reason to.
Fan on cooler was always at a custom profile, more for noise limitation than performance.